Friday 10 January 2014

Irish genealogy news catch up

Pressure of work (the 'real job') has meant I've got a bit behind this week. Here's a quick run through of news:

FIBIS adds records for Bombay 1884
Arrival and departure notices for Bombay 1884 have been extracted from the Times of India newspapers and uploaded to the Families in British India Society (FIBIS) database. The FIBIS collection should not be overlooked by Irish genealogy researchers as significant numbers of Irishmen went to India as soldiers in the 19th century. This latest update contains 4,672 arrivals and 3,890 departures. It joins similar indexes for 1880 to 1883. Details.

http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-5737308-10505988?url=http%3A//search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx%3Fdbid%3D5111Ancestry adds England & Wales Prerogative Wills
A major collection of probate records has been published by Ancestry. Spanning five centuries, the England and Wales Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) Wills collection showcases original images of wills dating from 1384– 1858. The PCC approved will probates with asset value of more than £5, equivalent to £526 today. They would have been written primarily by the middle and upper classes and many will have had land or connections in Ireland as well as in England & Wales. The documents contain information about properties, family members, occupations and standards of living.

Placenames of Northern Ireland
A new database is available to those searching details of land in Northern Ireland. It includes historical administrative names of counties, baronies, districts, parishes, townlands etc, amd names of rivers, lakes, mountains and other physical details in the six counties. The data was compiled by the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project from maps and other sources, and continues to grow as new names are coined, and as unrecorded traditional names are discovered. Find out more here.

More Irish newspapers added to FindMyPast
All editions of the Dublin Evening Mail for the year 1841 have been added to the FindMyPast collection of newspapers, which now has coverage for this publication for 1849, 1850, 1852, 1854 and 1855; all issues 1861 to 1870, plus those for June to December 1871.

10-week course for beginners in Belfast
The Ulster Historical Foundation is running a 10-week family history course starting on Tuesday 4 February. It's aimed primarily at beginners, but those who have already started their research will gain from it, too. The classes will be held in the Central Building, Stranmillis University College, Belfast BT9 5DY, 7:00 to 9:00pm. Cost is £55, with a concession rate of £45. Details.

New edition of History Ireland magazine in the shops
The first 2014 issue of History Ireland magazine is now in the shops. You can't miss it – just look at the cover photo! It depicts the Slashing Parson of 1798. How can you resist? There are also features about General Tom Thumb, who visited Ireland on a few occasions and was a major celebrity of the mid-19th century; the revolutionary impact, particularly on women, of cycling in 19th century Ireland; the Irish in Japan; the Curragh mutiny of 1912 and its place in the build up to 1916; and a look at Eoin Mac Neill, a founding father of the Irish state but largely neglected by recent scholarship. There's also an article questioning the validity of Youghal's 'Raleigh Quarter' rebranding, while Fiona Fitzsimons gives an overview of the Irish Land Commission's records, and argues for greater public access to them. All this for €7/£6.

Irish Records: Beyond the Obvious
Still some spaces left for next month's workshop at the Society of Genealogists in London, which will be presented by Roz McCutcheon FIGRS and Jill Williams FIGRS. After a brief resume of the usual sources, the course will cover a huge variety of lesser known sources, including those available online. Date: Saturday 8 February. Times: 10:30am to 1:30pm. Cost £20. Bookings.

Tar Abhaile still available to view
Did you miss any episodes of Tar Abhaile (Come Home), the 6-part genealogy series broadcast on TG4 at the end of last year? It received great reviews and included straightforward, good old-fashioned research plus 'reverse genealogy' and a Gathering of Feericks, as local Irish communities and volunteers from Ireland XO welcomed people from across the globe in search of their Irish ancestors. All the episodes are available to view on the TG4 Player worldwide, and they'll stay there until the end of January, if not longer.

Milestones of Medieval Dublin, on video
The lecture series Milestones of Medieval Dublin concluded in December. These free lunchtime lectures, hosted by the Friends of Medieval Dublin and presented at the Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council, were videoed and can now be enjoyed by those who couldn't attend. Click the lecture titles below to view the video. Each one is 30-40 minutes long.